Marston’s pubs: No change in Brits’ appetite for a night out
Marston’s recorded a near 11 per cent rise in sales in the first half on the back of its strong drinks sales, a trend that has continued over the past few weeks.
Marston’s said the continued strength of drink sales demonstrated the resilience of its community pub estate in spite of the economic environment. In addition to strong drink sales, it said the gap between drinks and food sales was narrowing.
This helped revenue at the pub operator to climb to £407.0m from £369.7m in the same period last year. On an underlying basis, the firm’s pretax loss narrowed to £3.6m from £7.5m last year.
However, on a statutory basis, Marston’s swung to a £38.1m loss compared to a £25.6m profit last year. This was largely due to a £34.5m net loss thanks to interest rate swap movements.
The pub operator noted that the majority of profit is typically earned in the second half and that it had invested well to benefit from the summer weather.
Marston’s said like-for-like sales in the last six weeks were up 7.9 per cent compared to last year with a strong performance at Easter and May bank holiday weekend.
Fixed energy and gas costs over the next few years will also help the firm manage inflationary pressures.
While Marston’s said it was “mindful” of the current macroeconomic environment, it argued “there is little in our trading performance to suggest that there has been a change to consumer behaviour”.
Chief executive Andrew Andrea said: “Our H1 performance clearly demonstrates that consumers remain as keen as ever to celebrate – and socialise within – the Great British Pub. The macro environment is becoming increasingly stable and recent evidence suggests that both the cost outlook, and consumer confidence, are steadily improving.”